Last Friday, many peace activists protesting the Israeli government’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians demonstrated in downtown Toledo, resulting in six arrests. The action took place in front of the Ohio Building, where U.S. Senator Jon Husted has an office.
Several humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have concluded that the Israeli government is attempting a genocide against the Palestinian people. Despite this, Israel continues to receive military and financial backing from the US, its strategic partner. Peace activists protested Senator Husted’s offices in an attempt to persuade him to withdraw his support for Israel.
Protesters arrived at 9 a.m. and took turns condemning the genocide and the role of the US administration in sponsoring it. Some then placed yellow tape across the front doors of the building, reading “crime scene – do not cross.” This prompted building manager Dean Ball to engage the demonstrators, and when they refused to remove the tape, Ball alerted the Toledo Police Department.
Police arrived shortly after and tried unsuccessfully to persuade the protesters to stop blocking the building door. While speaking with the negotiating officer, one of the demonstrators, Mike Ferner, claimed, “There are five distinct laws being broken every time Husted and the other members of Congress vote for money to send weapons to Israel. They are breaching the law every time they vote, and if no one else would enforce it, we will.
Six protesters, Al Compaan, Mike Ferner, Susan Kuehn, Nancy Larson, Stephen Masternak, and Tom McDonald, eventually sat in front of the doors, physically blocking them and leading to their arrest. Each was charged with a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct and released shortly thereafter.
In reaction to the event, Senator Husted’s office issued a statement stating, “Senator Husted supports all Ohioans’ First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard.”
The action was prompted in part by the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of 42 vessels carrying civilians from over 44 nations seeking to bring food and medical supplies to Palestinians in the face of an Israeli embargo in place since 2009. Between October 1 and 3, the Israeli military intercepted and boarded all 42 boats, arresting and imprisoning all of the participants.
The flotilla included Toledoan Philip Tottenham, a 47-year Marine Corps veteran. Many protestors on Friday carried banners with photographs of Philip that read, “Guilty of Delivering Aid to Gaza.” Tottenham hasn’t been heard from since his boat, the Ohwayla, was intercepted.
Tottenham claimed in an interview conducted shortly before the interception that he decided to oppose settler colonialism after thinking on his own family’s tragic history. “My forefathers were among the original 300 Texas settlers that arrived with Stephen F. Austin and massacred and butchered the indigenous people. Now that I understand what’s going on and see the world for what it is, I can see white supremacy for what it is.” He regards the situation in Israel as a type of white settler colonialism against the indigenous Palestinian population.
Ramon Perez, an activist in attendance, linked the genocide and displacement of Palestinians to the history of indigenous peoples in the Americas. “We’re here to assist our brothers and sisters in these states, as well as in Palestine. We want to make sure you all have a house, because they stole ours.”
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